TY - JOUR
T1 - How low-paid employees avoid poverty: An analysis by family type and household structure
AU - Gardiner, K
AU - Millar, Jane
PY - 2006/7
Y1 - 2006/7
N2 - The risk of poverty is very unevenly distributed in society. Some groups – unemployed people, lone parents, large families, people with disabilities, and some ethnic groups – have much higher poverty rates than average. Some events – losing a job, marital breakdown, having children – also put people at high risk of poverty. But being in a high-risk group does not necessarily mean you will be poor, nor does experiencing an event with a high poverty risk attached to it. Some people avoid poverty, despite being in high-risk groups or facing high-risk events. This article focuses on one such group – low-paid workers – and explores whether and how people in low-paid jobs are able to avoid poverty. We consider three main options – own wages and in particular working long hours, living with other people and sharing income, and state transfers through the tax and benefit system – and compare these across different family and household types. The results highlight the importance of household living arrangements in protecting low-waged individuals against poverty.
AB - The risk of poverty is very unevenly distributed in society. Some groups – unemployed people, lone parents, large families, people with disabilities, and some ethnic groups – have much higher poverty rates than average. Some events – losing a job, marital breakdown, having children – also put people at high risk of poverty. But being in a high-risk group does not necessarily mean you will be poor, nor does experiencing an event with a high poverty risk attached to it. Some people avoid poverty, despite being in high-risk groups or facing high-risk events. This article focuses on one such group – low-paid workers – and explores whether and how people in low-paid jobs are able to avoid poverty. We consider three main options – own wages and in particular working long hours, living with other people and sharing income, and state transfers through the tax and benefit system – and compare these across different family and household types. The results highlight the importance of household living arrangements in protecting low-waged individuals against poverty.
UR - http://www.journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=JSP
U2 - 10.1017/S0047279406009822
DO - 10.1017/S0047279406009822
M3 - Article
SN - 0047-2794
VL - 35
SP - 351
EP - 369
JO - Journal of Social Policy
JF - Journal of Social Policy
IS - 3
ER -